Eagles' Robinson a fan favorite
Chants of “CHU-CKIE! CHU-CKIE!” rained down on Chuckie Robinson from the Southern Miss faithful after his seven-RBI game against Western Kentucky in early May.
That was nice. Unforgettable even.
The Golden Eagle junior catcher even has his own sign — a headshot of the fictional “Chucky” character from the popular “Child’s Play” film franchise — which is waved by fans in the Right Field Roost when Robinson gets a big hit or makes a good play.
Flattering for the Danville, Illinois, native. Still, not the highlight of his playing career.
No, that designation belongs to what’s being referred to around the Southern Miss clubhouse as “The Double-Cut.”
The Golden Eagles led mighty Rice 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning of the Conference USA tournament championship game. The Owls had runners on first and second base with two outs when Dayne Wunderlich singled to the left-center field gap. Jake Sandlin cut the ball off and threw it to cutoff man Nick Dawson, who wheeled and found secondary cutoff man Tim Lynch near the pitcher’s mound. Lynch turned and fired a strike to Robinson, who tagged out the would-be tying run to end the game.
“I’m looking at the third base coach the whole time,” Robinson said Tuesday. “I see Nick with the ball and the coach is waving the runner, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, c’mon!’ Tim got it and threw it to me nice and soft. If you look at the speedometer, it clocked at 57 (miles per hour), so we gave him stuff about that. But he put it right on the money.”
The play at the plate was the culmination of a game that perfectly embodied the type of player Robinson has become. Against Rice, he also singled, walked and scored a run on the offensive side. Defensively, he threw out a potential base stealer and made a tough play on a pop-up in foul territory despite colliding with teammate Tracy Hadley.
For his efforts in 2016 and during the Conference USA tournament, Robinson earned All-CUSA First Team honors and landed a spot on the C-USA All-Tournament team.
Golden Eagle coach Scott Berry has a deep appreciation for what his catcher brings to the table, having played the position himself in high school and college.
“He brings a great defensive presence to the game for us,” said Berry. “A lot of people talk about his arm strength, but I think more importantly his ability to work with pitchers and understand their strengths and weaknesses. He’s right there at the top (in Conference USA) receiving and blocking pitches but also helping the pitchers call their game and understand the adjustments they have to make. He does an outstanding job with that.”
But he’s far from a one-dimensional backstop. Robinson, who’s always hit, struggled out of the gate this season. Since then, though, he’s raised his average to .298 and hit six home runs with 43 runs batted in.
“He’s gotten more comfortable,” said Berry. “He delivered some big hits for us in some big series and has been an important part of the offense down there in the seven-hole.”
The Golden Eagles (40-18) will meet South Alabama at 11 a.m. Friday at the Tallahassee regional tournament.